Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of joining Flowing Nomads for a day of yoga, good food and even better wine at Boschendal wine farm in Franchhoek. The best thing about living in South Africa is the amount of activities available to us. There is ALWAYS something to do, and what’s better than combining exercise with food, wine and good company? To start our Saturday, we all arrived at Boschendal and setup on the grass, chatting among each other and enjoying the rays of sun coming through the trees. There was a lovely feeling of community, where everyone felt comfortable in their space, and free to meet other people.
I hadn’t done yoga in a while, so I was initially a bit nervous to join, but the atmosphere was so relaxed and invited all levels of yogis, from beginner to advanced. I felt the idea was more to come together and enjoy the space, than it was to be serious about the practice. It set a wonderful start for the day ahead.
After doing downward dog in the sun, and playing around with headstands and fun stuff like that, we moved to the picnic area to enjoy a hearty picnic supplied by Bochendal farm. We chatted, laughed and enjoyed the gentle winter sun before heading inside for a wine tasting. The team at Boschendal were so lovely and knowledgeable, and soon adapted to the group’s quirky sense of humour. My favourite wine of the day was definitely the Blanc de Noir – technically a very light Rose wine. We even each received a bottle of this wine with a hand written card afterwards – day made!
When saying goodbye to Lauren and Hunter, the organisers of this event and the founders of Flowing Nomads, I asked them for a few words on their experience, how they started and what thier plans on for the future:
“We started our expression of such a concept years ago with a #yogaanywhereandeverywhere theory. Taking Yoga to random places to allow folks to experience the practice wherever they feel for it. Evolving, as one must, we decided to be organised about it all and so enter, Flowing Nomads. And in just over a year of operations, we have held dozens of events in some of the most attractive, serene and wildest places in and around the Cape and Garden Route.
‘Flow’ (PravAha in Sanskrit) referring to life, water, energy; and ‘nomads’ in its existing context of wanderers or travellers – this referring to our nature, and those that join the experience.
Our ultimate goal – take Yoga to places it has not been yet…and allow it to make friends with everyone it meets.
Here are some of our events, already in place and some that are still in the works, but will be coming up soon.
*Masterclass – this is an extended yoga class, usually for those more experience practitioners, looking to delve deeper within the poses and within themselves. The masterclass usually incorporates a 90 minute yoga class, ending with a 30 minute Yoga Nidra
*Grapevine Yoga (Soms Delta have asked us to host one there – confirmation pending)
*Intro to Yoga – this is a workshop where we go over the fundamentals of Yoga – giving new practitioners the confidence to begin a regular practice and to help refine the poses for those who already take part.
* Yoga Teacher Training – we’re going to be scheduling our 200 Hour Teacher Training likely in the New Year.
*Possibly another museum Yoga
*Full Moon Beach Gathering – we try to do this every month at the full moon, although the weather hasn’t played along for the past few months, but the event will go ahead when weather permits.
All event info can be found on their Facebook page.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlowingNomads/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowingnomads/?hl=en
Website: http://www.flowingnomads.com/
I’d urge anyone who is interested in yoga, or wine, to get involved in the next Grapevine Yoga. Keep a check on their Facebook page for more details!
That’ll be all from me
Namaste
*Main image supplied by Flowing Nomads and was taken on the morning of the event
